Paris Whitney Hilton (born February 17, 1981) is an American celebutante, businesswoman, singer, model, actress, author, and television personality. She is an heiress to a share of both the Hilton Hotel fortune and the real estate fortune of her father Richard Hilton.

As an actress, she has appeared in several minor roles, most notably in the horror film House of Wax (2005). Some of her more recognizable screen work has been alongside friend Nicole Richie in The Simple Life. In 2006, she released her debut self-titled album Paris. As a result of several legal incidents, Hilton served a widely publicized sentence in a correctional institution in 2007.

Born in New York City, New York, Hilton is the oldest of four children of Richard and Kathy Hilton. Paris has a younger sister, Nicky, and younger brothers Barron Hilton II, and Conrad Hilton III.

On the maternal side of her family, Paris is a niece of two child stars of the 1970s, Kim Richards and Kyle Richards. Paris was related by marriage to Nicole Richie's godmother, Nancy Davis, when Nancy's brother, Greg, was married to Kim Richards.

Paris' paternal grandparents are hotel chairman Barron Hilton, and his wife, the former Marilyn Hawley; Barron Hilton's parents were Hilton Hotels founder Conrad Hilton and his first wife, Mary Barron. When Conrad Hilton died in 1979, he left nothing in his will to his children or other descendants. Barron Hilton contested his father's decision and prevailed in court in 1988. On her paternal side, Paris is related through marriage to Zsa Zsa Gabor and Elizabeth Taylor.

Paris moved between several exclusive homes in her youth, including a suite in the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in Manhattan, Beverly Hills, and the Hamptons. She attended Marywood-Palm Valley School in Rancho Mirage, California her freshman year of high school; Dwight School in New York for her sophomore and junior years; then a few months at Canterbury School in New Milford, Connecticut before dropping out. Hilton eventually earned a GED.

The value of Paris' inheritance was estimated at between $30 and $50 million.

Hilton began modeling as a child, appearing first in charity events. At 19, she signed with Donald Trump's modeling agency, T Management. Hilton has worked with modeling agencies such as Ford Models in New York, Models 1 Agency in London, Nous Model Management in Los Angeles, and Premier Model Management in London. She has appeared in numerous advertising campaigns, including Iceberg Vodka, GUESS, Tommy Hilfiger, Christian Dior, and Marciano. In 2001, Hilton began to develop a reputation as a 19-year-old socialite, being identified as "New York's leading It Girl" whose fame was beginning to "extend beyond the New York tabloids". She has since appeared in several magazines, including the April 2004 issue of Maxim magazine.

Hilton gained significant notoriety when she co-starred along with Nicole Richie, the adopted daughter of Lionel Richie, in the Fox reality series The Simple Life, which premiered on December 2, 2003. During the course of the season, Hilton and Richie lived with a family on their farm in rural Altus, Arkansas. The show, which was a major success for Fox, featured the two working at a variety of blue-collar jobs, making out with local men, and performing menial tasks associated with farm life. The pair's inability to appreciate or engage in the "simple life" was a central theme on the series.

After the success of the first season, The Simple Life was followed by two more seasons on Fox. The network canceled the show after a dispute between Hilton and Richie, but the show was subsequently aired by E! Entertainment Television for a fourth season. A fifth season premiered in May 2007 on E! with talks of a sixth season to follow suit.

Hilton also amassed other television credits, guest-starring in episodes of The O.C., The George Lopez Show, Las Vegas, American Dreams and Veronica Mars. Furthermore, she appeared in several music videos, including It Girl by John Oates and Just Lose It by Eminem.

Moreover, Hilton made cameo appearances in several films, notably Zoolander (2001), Wonderland (2003), and The Cat In The Hat (2003). She landed minor and supporting roles in the feature films Nine Lives (2002), Raising Helen (2004), The Hillz (2004), and House of Wax (2005). Her role as Paige Edwards in House of Wax won the Teen Choice Award for "Best Scream" and earned her a nomination for "Choice Breakout Performance – Female". She also earned a nomination for "Best Frightened Performance" at the 2006 MTV Movie Awards. She landed her first lead roles in 2006 with the straight-to-DVD releases National Lampoon's Pledge This! (2006) and Bottom's Up (2006).

She is currently scheduled to appear as the lead in several upcoming theatrical releases, including an as yet untitled superhero movie involving Stan Lee, and as the lead character in a romantic comedy called The Hottie and the Nottie. Plans for an eponymous cartoon series following the animated life of Paris, her sister Nicky, and her dog Tinkerbell are also in production. As of August 2007, Hilton is part of the cast of Repo! the Genetic Opera, scheduled to begin filming in September 2007. Also joining her will be Nivek Ogre (aka Kevin Graham Ogilvie) - the lead singer of Skinny Puppy.

Three films in which she has appeared in ( The Hillz, Bottom's Up, and National Lampoon's Pledge This! ) are featured in the IMDB's bottom 100.

Hilton founded Heiress Records, a sub-label of Warner Bros. Records, in 2004. She released her self-titled debut album, Paris, under the Heiress Records label on August 22, 2006. Although the album reached number six on the Billboard 200 for a week, its total sales volume has been low. Producers for Paris included Greg Wells, Kara DioGuardi, Jane Wiedlin and Scott Storch. Hilton collaborated with Fat Joe and Jadakiss on the song "Fighting Over Me." The first single from Paris, "Stars Are Blind," produced by Fernando Garibay, was released for download on June 20 2006 and peaked at number eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100; "Turn It Up" and "Nothing in This World" followed as worldwide singles. All Music Guide commented that the album was "more fun than anything released by Britney Spears or Jessica Simpson, and a lot fresher, too." On the whole, critical reception was mixed.

In August 2006, it became known that graffiti artist Banksy and music producer Danger Mouse had replaced 500 copies of Hilton's debut album in various UK record stores with their own album, featuring parody remixes, revised cover art, and reworded liner notes that included topless photos of Hilton defaced with various ironic slogans.

On July 16, 2007 Hilton confirmed that she's already working on a new album, but there's no title yet. The release is planned for Fall 2007. She was also attending singing lessons to increase her voice for the new record and some tracks have already been finished. Recently music producer Scott Storch confirmed his work on Hilton's upcoming album. Sash! has also been confirmed to be producing Hilton's first single.

In the autumn of 2004, Hilton released an autobiographical book, Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, co-written by Merle Ginsberg, which includes full color photographs of her and gives her advice on the life as an heiress. Hilton reportedly received a $100,000 advance payment for this book. Some in the media panned the writing as amateurish, and the book was parodied by Robert Mundell on The Late Show with David Letterman. Nonetheless, the book became a New York Times bestseller. Hilton followed it up with a designer diary, also with Ginsberg, called Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All to Me.

Hilton helped design a collection of purses for Japanese label Samantha Thavasa, and was also involved in the design of a jewelry line for Amazon.com.

In 2004, Hilton was involved in the creation of a perfume line by Parlux Fragrances. Originally set to be a small release, demand was high and necessitated a wider release before December 2004. The launch was followed by a 47% increase in sales for Parlux, which was predominantly due to sales of the Hilton-branded perfume. After the success of Hilton's perfume, Parlux Fragrances released several more perfumes with Hilton's name, including fragrances lines for men. Paris Hilton will launch a new fragrance in October 2007, called Can Can by Paris Hilton. This is her fourth women's fragrance after Paris Hilton, Just Me, and Heiress.

In January 2007, Hilton released her own line of hair extensions in partnership with Hair Tech International for its hair extension division, DreamCatchers, headquartered in Beverly Hills.

In early August 2007, Hilton signed a licensing agreement with Antebi for a signature footwear line, "Paris Hilton Footware", featuring stilettos, platforms, flats, wedges, and a sports collection, expected to reach stores in 2008. By mid August 2007, Hilton launched a clothing line of tops, dresses, coats, and jeans at Kitson boutique in Los Angeles.

Hilton lent her name to a chain of nightclubs known as Club Paris in 2005. The first of which in Orlando, Florida has been a success, and a second club located in Jacksonville, Florida opened in July 2006. Hilton was fired in January 2007 by the owner of Club Paris, Fred Khalilian, after she had failed to attend several scheduled promotional appearances.

According to Forbes Magazine, Hilton earned approximately $2 million in 2003–2004, $6.5 million in 2004–2005, and $7 million in 2005–2006.

Hilton was engaged to fashion model Jason Shaw from mid-2002 to early 2003. On May 29, 2005, she announced her engagement to Paris Latsis, a Greek shipping heir; the engagement was called off five months later. Thereafter, she began dating another Greek shipping heir, Stavros Niarchos III, but in May 2006, Hilton publicist Elliot Mintz informed the press Paris and Stavros had broken up. In an attempt to rediscover herself, Hilton imposed a ban on sexual activity for one year starting in July 2006. She told Regis and Kelly: "One-night stands are not for me. I think it's gross when you just give it up. Guys want you more, if you don't just hand it to them on a platter."

In July 2006, Hilton was photographed kissing her best male friend Brandon Davis, the man who "ranted against" Lindsay Lohan on national television, five days later.

In January 2007, Hilton's private life again created headlines with the launch of ParisExposed.com, a website that featured images of personal and medical documents, video, and other private material, allegedly obtained when the contents of a storage locker rented by Hilton were auctioned off due to lack of payment. CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 discussed footage obtained from the website which features Hilton using several ethnic slurs. On February 3, 2007 Hilton obtained a temporary injunction against ParisExposed.com, closing down the website for a short period of time before the site went back online.

In a June 11, 2007 phone interview from jail, Hilton told Barbara Walters that while serving time in jail, God has given her a new chance, and that she will no longer "act dumb."

Paris is currently having a relationship with Swedish model Alexander von Zweigbergk Väggö.

Hilton, known for her love of small dogs, including a Yorkshire Terrier and a female Chihuahua named Tinkerbell, purchased a male Chihuahua July 25, 2007 from Pets of Bel Air in Los Angeles.

Tinkerbell (born October 31, 2002 in Athens, Greece) was purchased from a Greek breeder named Andreas Evagelopoulos at the price of 3,000€. Paris Hilton's ownership of Tinkerbell may have advanced the trend of owning small dogs, dubbed "accessory dogs" by some. Hilton is frequently seen carrying the dog at social events and functions, and in all five seasons of television reality show The Simple Life. In 2004, Tinkerbell "authored" a memoir, The Tinkerbell Hilton Diaries. On August 12, 2004, Tinkerbell went missing after Hilton's apartment was robbed, and a $5,000 reward was offered for her safe return. She was found six days later. By December 1, 2004, Tinkerbell was again spotted with Paris Hilton at various events.

The leak of a three-year-old home-made sex video of Hilton with her then-boyfriend Rick Salomon a week prior to the premiere of her Fox reality series The Simple Life attracted worldwide attention in late 2003.

In November 2004, Hilton participated in Sean "Diddy" Combs' Citizen Change campaign "Vote or Die" to encourage youths to vote in the presidential election. She drew criticism after it was revealed she had neither voted nor registered to do so. Despite this claim, Hilton told Larry King she has voted in every election.

On March 8, 2006, Brian Quintana, an event producer, was granted a three-year restraining order against Hilton after he testified that she harassed and threatened him.

In June 2007, Sparta Florida Music Group started legal action against Hilton and Warner Chappell Music for plagiarism due to similarities between the song "Stars Are Blind" and the song "Kingston Town", originally by Lord Creator. It was frequently misreported that UB40 was the instigator of the action, and that it centered on their 1990 cover of the song. However, according to a statement on UB40's site, they are not involved, and "Any speculated legal action taking place against Ms Hilton would be entirely at the instigation of the original songwriter’s music publisher...who ultimately own the copyright to the song."

On September 6, 2007, Hilton filed an injunction lawsuit against Hallmark Cards Inc. in U.S. District Court over the unlawful use of her picture and catchphrase "That's hot" on a greeting card. The card is titled "Paris's First Day as a Waitress" with a photo of Hilton's face on a cartoon of a waitress serving a plate of food, with a Hilton's dialogue bubble, "Don't touch that, it's hot." (which had a registered trademark on Feb. 13, 2007). Hilton's attorney Brent Blakely said that the infringement damages would be based on profits from the $2.49 cards. Julie O'Dell said that Hallmark used the card as parody, protected under fair-use law.

In September 2006, Hilton was arrested and charged with driving under the influence of alcohol with a blood alcohol content of 0.08%, the minimum at which it is illegal to drive in California. Hilton's drivers license was subsequently suspended in November 2006, and in January 2007 she pled no contest to the alcohol-related reckless driving charge. Her punishment was 36 months' probation and fines of about $1,500.

On January 15, 2007, Hilton was pulled over for driving with a suspended license and signed a document acknowledging that she was not permitted to drive. On February 27, 2007 Hilton was caught driving 70 MPH in a 35 MPH zone, again with a suspended license. She also did not have her headlights on even though it was after dark. Prosecutors in the office of the Los Angeles City Attorney charged that those actions, along with the failure to enroll in a court-ordered alcohol education program constituted a violation of the terms of her probation.

On May 4, 2007 Hilton was sentenced by Judge Michael T. Sauer to 45 days in jail for violating her probation. Initially, Hilton planned to appeal the sentence, and supported an online petition asking California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for a pardon. The petition to Governor Schwarzenegger was created and organized on May 5,2007 by Joshua Morales, a loyal fan of Ms. Hilton's who was upset by the sentence that Paris received from Judge Michael Sauer the day before. In response, various opponents started a petition to maintain the sentence. Both petitions attracted tens of thousands of signatures. Hilton later switched lawyers, and dropped her plans to appeal.

Hilton was required to begin her jail term on June 5, 2007, or risk a doubling of her sentence. On June 3, 2007, after attending the 2007 MTV Movie Awards, Hilton checked herself into the Century Regional Detention Facility, an all female jail in Lynwood, California, at 11:38 pm PDT. From there, Hilton was transferred by authorities to a special section "reserved for police officers, public officials, celebrities and other high-profile inmates" Hilton was given the inmate booking number 9818783. With credit for good behavior, it was anticipated that Hilton would only serve 23 days of her 45-day sentence.

In an unexpected turn of events, Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca signed orders on the morning of June 7, reassigning Hilton to 40 days of home confinement with an electronic monitoring device due to an unspecified medical condition. Sheriff Baca commented on the release saying, "My message to those who don't like celebrities is that punishing celebrities more than the average American is not justice." According to Baca, under normal circumstances, Hilton would not have served any time in jail, and he added that "The special treatment, in a sense, appears to be because of her celebrity status ... She got more time in jail". However this is contradicted by an analysis performed by the LA Times, which concluded that had she been let out after 4 days, she would have served the same amount of time as 60% of inmates with a similar criminal history. The LA Times article concludes that the actual time Hilton served means her punishment exceeded that of 80% of people in similar situations.

On the same day that Hilton was released from jail, Judge Michael Sauer summoned her to reappear back in court the following morning (June 8) as the sentencing statement had explicitly said she would serve time in jail with "No work furlough. No work release. No electronic monitoring." The judge also said that he was informed that the sheriff intended to release Hilton but that the judge had not agreed to it, instead reaffirming her original sentence. At the hearing he declined to be briefed by Hilton's attorney in private chambers on the nature of her condition and sent her back to jail to serve out her original 45-day sentence. Upon hearing the sentence, Hilton shouted, "It's not right!" and started screaming requesting to hug her mother, who was present in the courtroom. She was then escorted out. Concern about Hilton's condition led to her being moved to the medical wing of the Twin Towers Correctional Facility in Los Angeles. On June 13 Hilton was moved back to the Century Regional Detention Facility in Lynwood due to improvements in her condition. (Hilton in an interview from jail claimed she suffered from claustrophobia although an unidentified "Paris insider" claims it was "toilet-phobia")

On June 9 2007 prison minister Marty Angelo petitioned sentencing Judge Michael Sauer asking to serve out the remainder of Hilton's jail sentence if the judge would release her to an alternative treatment program. Angelo's petition fell on deaf ears. Angelo posted an "Open Letter to Paris Hilton" on his website. Hilton referred to starting a "new beginning" during her interview with talk show host, Larry King on June 28, 2007, two days after being released from jail. Angelo's autobiography is entitled, "Once Life Matters: A New Beginning" which he shipped to Hilton through her attorney, Richard A. Hutton on May 23, 2007 before her Los Angeles County Jail incarceration. Hilton quoted directly from one of the book's pages (#178) during the interview when she used Angelo's 'prison motto' advice: "Don't serve the time, let the time serve you." Hilton stated, "I did that and that really helped."

Hilton was released from jail at 12:15am PDT on June 26, 2007. In total, Hilton served 22 days in detention, counting her day-long home confinement. When she walked out of jail, she was met by a contingent of paparazzi and camera crews.

Hilton announced she would be visiting Rwanda in November 2007 as a post-jail vow and to spread awareness about the African country.

While Hilton has been quoted as saying that she is the "iconic blonde of the decade"' and comparing herself to Princess Diana and Marilyn Monroe (a claim she later denied in the May 2007 issue of Harper's Bazaar), she will reportedly appear in the 2007 Guinness World Records as the world's "Most Overrated Celebrity". In a poll conducted by the Associated Press and AOL, Hilton was voted the second "Worst Celebrity Role Model of 2006", behind Britney Spears. Critics have alleged that Hilton epitomizes the title of famous for being famous; echoing that sentiment, the Associated Press conducted what they called an experiment in late February 2007, trying not to report on Hilton for a whole week.

On May 11, 2007, a statue by Daniel Edwards entitled Paris Hilton Autopsy was revealed at Capla Kesting Fine Art in New York. Hilton is depicted by a clay model as dead, naked, and with her legs spread. The sculpture is aimed at stopping young women from drinking and driving.

Hilton is referenced in #7 of Joss Whedon's superhero comic Astonishing X-Men; while discussing the amount of news coverage the X-Men receive after saving New York City from a giant monster, Emma Frost says "Thirty seconds! Thirty seconds of coverage after three minutes about that useless tart dancing topless at a party! As if that's remotely remarkable..." Colossus then asks "Who is the "Hilton" girl?", to which Beast replies "It doesn't matter. On a lot of levels."

Guitarist Alex Lifeson of the progressive rock band Rush referenced Hilton during their August 8, 2004 concert in New York City on the R30: 30th Anniversary Tour. Lifeson went into one of his trademark 'rants' during the instrumental track "La Villa Strangiato", where he spoke as if he was Hilton, and topped it off with a calm, ad libbed song (joined by Geddy and Neil) which includes him yelling, "WHERE'S YOUR BRAIN?" and "YOU MAKE ME SICK!"

*In the South Park episode titled "Stupid Spoiled Whore Video Playset," Hilton shows up in South Park to open a new store and attempts to purchase Butters after her dog Tinkerbell commits suicide. The episode culminates in a "whore-off" competition which she loses to Mr. Slave when he fists her entire body into his rectum and she is never to be seen again. *Robot Chicken parodied the Paris Hilton sex tape in the episode Badunkadunk replacing Paris Hilton and Rick Salomon with Beastman and Teela from Masters of the Universe as well as mocking her role in The Simple Life. *In the computer-animated series Bratz, more specifically the episode "Kidnapped!", a parody character named London Milton appears as one of the guest characters. *In the The Simpsons episode "Homerazzi", Bart mocks "Paris Texan" (a Hilton parody character) in a store for the sex tape she was in. *In the MMOG World of Warcraft, Haris Pilton can be found in the World's End Tavern of the lower part of Shattrath City accompanied by her dog Tinkerbell, and her job tag reads "Socialite". *In The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, London Tipton, the daughter of the Tipton Hotel's rich owner, is a parody of Paris Hilton. *Shortly after Hilton was incarcerated in June 2007, a music video spoofing her jail sentence was released on the popular video-sharing website YouTube. Featuring a Paris Hilton lookalike extolling the virtues of jail to the tune of her song "Stars Are Blind", the video achieved instant notoriety, garnering over three million hits in five days. *Paris is briefly spoofed in the 2007 film Epic Movie walking out of a clothes store and uttering, "I'm so hot!", before she is crushed to death by one of the film's protagonists, and her dog Tinkerbell wandering away. *On the soap opera As the World Turns, a self-obsessed socialite is named "Vienna Hyatt," played by Ewa da Cruz. *In the 2004 comedy, White Chicks, spoiled heiresses Brittany and Tiffany Wilson are parodies of Paris and Nicky Hilton. The theme song to The Simple Life, The Penfifteen Club's "Hey Ms. Hilton", was even re-recorded by the band themselves, as "Hey Ms. Wilson". *Surreal Drag Performer Russella has devised a 45 minute musical stage play satirising the life of Paris Hilton. Loosely based on the Charles Dickens novel A Christmas Carol the play takes the view that Paris Hilton is required in society to keep depressing news off the front pages.

* Wishman (1991) * Sweetie Pie (2000) * Zoolander (2001; cameo) * Nine Lives (2002) * QIK2JDG (2002) * L.A. Knights (2003) * Wonderland (2003) * The Cat in the Hat (2003) * Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! (2004) - Scenes Deleted * The Hillz (2004) * Raising Helen (2004) * 1 Night in Paris (2004) * House of Wax (2005) * Bottoms Up (2006) * Pledge This! (2006) * The Hottie and the Nottie (2008) * Repo! the Genetic Opera (2008)

* ¹ "Turn It Up" was a club-only single. It was ineligible to chart on most charts except specific Dance charts, such as the U.S. Billboard Hot Dance Club Play, where it reached #1. * ² "Screwed" was released only in Asia as a promo single.

*Confessions of an Heiress: A Tongue-in-Chic Peek Behind the Pose, 2004, ISBN 0743266641 *Your Heiress Diary: Confess It All to Me, 2005, ISBN 0743287142

* Paris Hilton's Official Website * Paris Hilton's Official Music Career Website * Genealogy of Paris Hilton * * * *Allmusic.com review site